Circus story

Got some of the circus story from H on Thursday night, after she babysat for the kiddos. She has to be in the mood to talk about the past rather than the present or future.

She'd been working at a blind asylum in Melbourne after her marriage to the jealous quadriplegic broke up, and was 28 when she she ran away to join the circus. She signed up as a teacher to the 4 kids in the troupe, and didn't know till she turned up that she'd also be responsible for driving a truck and trailer. I gather that she kept a series of much-loved kangaroos during this phase, of which she speaks very fondly, but I haven't the species specifications yet. There's some hair-raising detail about her travels round western Australia, including the miners and brothels of Kalgoorlie.

We took Reekster up the Braidburn today, where there's a rave taking place this weekend. Near Morningside! The thumpy music is ringing out through the valley, and we left Peter Ballocks hanging out with the dreadlocked young things by the quarry. They seemed like a nice bunch.

H. has about 6 jobs, Peter Ballocks none, and she's training me in self-reliance. She is very good to me.